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On Friday, October 21st (2011), we departed Salt Lake City for Fillmore. Our goal was to get in one more camping and ATV'ing adventure before the weather turned cold and snowy.

On the first Fillmore exit, we stopped to hit Carls Jr. for a quick lunch. Just as we parked, we noticed a guy on a golf cart inspecting every trailer that pulled into the lot. At first, we didn't think much of it.

A few minutes later, this guy was looking at my 5th wheel tires with much interest. He came over and told me that my tire tread was separating and that if I pulled my rig to the service station a few hundred feet away, his guys would gladly mount my spare. I pulled to the service station and was immediately told that all six of my 5th wheel tires were coming apart.

Initially, it looked very likely that I was in a very dangerous situation with my trailer. I was quoted $2100 for 6x Cooper "Provider" tires in 235/80 R16. I declined and we made the 2-3 mile tow to the Fillmore KOA.

Google was fired up and I researched Cooper tires. To my dismay, I learned that Cooper doesn't carry a brand called "Provider", nor did they carry my tire size. Clearly, these guys were pedaling Chinese knock-off tires at twice the price I could source replacements from Discount Tire/Sears/Walmart.

To compound matters, upon arriving at the KOA, we determined that the front electric motor for the levlling legs was not working. We had to manually crank to lower (and then raise) the legs. Additionally, the rear garage door was not sealing completely, allowing both sunlight and bugs to come through.

We settled in that Friday night and for dinner, drove the ~50 miles to Hoovers for another awesome meal.

The following morning (Saturday), we decided to sleep in a bit. Overnight temps were near freezing, so nobody was really inclined to get out into the cold morning air.

My 11am, we had the ATV's loaded and were ready to roll. Destination: Marysvale (just shy of 60 miles one-way across two mountain ranges (Pahvant & Tushar).

Our route would start at the far North/East corner of Fillmore via the Paiute 03 trail through Chalk Creek.

Somewhere near the middle of the Max Reid trail (Paiute 01), the Honda Rancher lost all brakes at one of the steepest sections of trail. My tactic: Get my ATV and my sons in front of the wife and have her just coast down using the two front ATV's at brakes. Success!

Hunters were everywhere in the woods. How they managed to spot a deer is amazing considering how close they all were to each other. Deer to hunter ratio had to be 100:1 (100 hunters for every deer).

We returned to camp after sun-down with temps in the 40-50F range.

That evening, we discussed the situation with the 5th wheel tires. I went out and inspected and determined the tires would be able to handle the 140 mile return trip home.

We departed early Sunday morning and didn't exceed 55mph the entire trip home. We arrived without incident. Seems to me that tire center in Fillmore has a pretty interesting (and unethical) racket: Scope out every trailer, spread FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt), then when they hook somebody, they increase their tire prices by $600-800 over normal retail.

The quest for replacement tires is underway and the 5th wheel goes back to Motorsportsland for service on Friday. What an eventful weekend. It would be nice to have one outing with the 5th wheel not end with maintenance/repair issues!

Over Labor Day weekend (2011), both my brothers came into town. My oldest brother is retired Air Force, now IT Tech residing in Vacaville, CA. My youngest brother is a 7-8th grade Math teacher, residing in Olympia, WA. Although my oldest brother hunts and camps a bit, he and my youngest brother are still inexperienced ATV'ers.

 

My plan was to stage at the Panguitch KOA (south end of town), get the guys oriented with the machines on Day 1 (ride toward Bryce Canyon, etc.). On Day 2, our plan was to ATV tent/camp at Castlerock Campground, just off I-70 and West of Richfield (over 100 miles to the North).

Garmin tracks and Google KML found here:

Panguitch_to_Marysvale.gdb

 spot_messages.kml

Day 1: Staging at the KOA. We had hoped to come in Friday night, but the KOA owners were worried that our rig was so big that we'd take their trees and power lines down. Apparently through the night, they had friends at work clearing branches and making the campground accessible to our monster-5th wheel. I'm sure glad they did. It was still tight.

 

Day 1 went without issue. Both brothers proved they could handle the machines, not get lost or destroy anything. We retired back to the 5th wheel for the evening. Overnight, the temperatures dropped to the mid-30's. Far too cold to get up and turn-on the furnace. My brothers, now sleeping in the garage area (on two drop-down queen beds) were freezing and had no issues with telling me so the next morning. That morning, we got an updated map of the area and instructions from the KOA owners that temps overnight had been getting very cold. My youngest brother and I were the only two to have packed sweatshirts. My oldest brother started seeking out a source to purchase on (no success).

 

Off we went. Our first leg was to ride through the entire Casto/Lime-Kiln loop. After that, it was the Fremont 02 trail to Circleville.

As my older brother was staging this video, I had just had a collision (low-speed) with a tree. I pushed in the right headlight, bumper and frame. I was upset as evidenced in the second video below where I ram the gate and create new suspension issues that won't manifest for another ~80 miles. (upper A-arm bushing)

On June 16-18th, my 13 year old son and I departed South Jordan en route to Marysvale. In tow, we had our massive 42' 5th wheel, two quads and my mountain bike. We were intent on participating in the Take Back Utah event at Lizzie and Charlies RV park.

We arrived Wed. early afternoon (after a nice lunch at Hoovers), staged the RV (can't camp without Satellite TV, XBOX360, Air conditionining, 50amp power and ice cubes!) and called it a day.


On Thursday, we met with the TBU group and initially participated in the ride up to Bullion Falls and Monroe Mountain. After eating dirt & dust for a few miles, we (my son, myself and Gary Eli) decided to leave the group and seek out our own adventure. Our destination: Koosharem via the 53 and 33 Paiute trails (some of the most Black Diamond rated trails in the area).


Considering we've ridden this area in years past without issue, we went with our normal half-day gear (wet weather, lunch, drinks). Normally, Marysvale to Koosharem is a 4 hour round trip. This day, it turned out to be a 9am-midnight adventure.

Why was it adventure? Let me tell you our story:

The ride up the Paiute 01 and 02 can be done in a truck; That was our initial trail up the mountain. Upon reaching 7000' elevation, we started to encounter many trails blocked by either downed trees or a combination of massive snow drifts and downed trees. Our only available trails to Koosharem were the 53 and 33. Did I mention Black Diamond rated? (BD=Extremely difficult).

Gary was in a Razr SxS while my 13 year old was in a 2wd Honda Rancher.

Both trails were not easily accessed due to the amount of trees that had fallen over the trail. We spent a considerable amount of time cutting the trees back. I initially used my trusty handsaw (never leave without it) until Gary came clean that he brought a battery powered Sawz-All. What a relief!

In early May 2010, my brother, youngest son (Nick) and his friend (Alex) all took off for Fillmore. We brought our rolling Marriott to stage at the Fillmore KOA.

Garmin tracks for this route:
Fillmore-To-Beaver.gdb

The weather was moderate with temperatures in the high 50's and lower 70's. Our plan was to ride (and camp) from Fillmore to Beaver, stopping for food and fuel along the trail.

 

Rather than my normal route through Meadow and Kanosh, we decided to head out via Chalk Creek, exploring many side trails along the way. Water levels in the creek were moderate.

 

 

By the end of Day 1, we had already crossed I-70 and staged our camp  just between the Paiute 01 and 02 trails at about 10,000' elevation. Unfortunately, a massive storm blew in soaking everything. Fortunately, our little camp was well prepared to last through the storm.

Before getting too far toward Marysvale, we stopped at our favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurant (Hoovers) and enjoyed an excellent meal.

Nick made a bet that he could finish an 1 pound slice of chocolate cake. Needless to say, we didn't allow him to complete that bet.

Off to Marysvale we went.

We awoke the next morning, broke camp and headed into Marysvale for food and fuel. Next stop was somewhere near Beaver and the lakes above the mountain. First though, it was a nice jaunt through Delano Peak and Big John Flat.

 

We found a few lakes about 15 miles south of Big John Flat and decided to make camp again. Fortunately, we had planned ahead and brought our fishing gear. Unfortunately, the fish weren't biting, so we just enjoyed the day.

For the return leg, we definitely wanted to hit the Max Reid and Paiute 76 trails. Toward the end of the 76 trail, we encountered a washed out section of trail and had to build it up with rocks to make it safely passable.

Moments after reinforcing the drop-off, another group approached from behind and we gladly helped them down the 4' drop-off - were they ever grateful!

Most of the way through the Max Reid trail, we stopped to climb my favorite spot. I went up first to stage a rope so the boys could have a safety line.

 

All in all, this was a fantastic way to spend 3-4 days with family! For Sept 2011, we're planning something similar, but in a new and interesting location near Casto Canyon.

This is easily the most narrow two-track, brush covered, narrow and hazardous trail I've ridden to date. What an adventure.

27 Miles into this off-camber narrow trail, I heard a pop and saw an explosion of green as the "slime" sprayed out of the tire.
 
Initially, I didn't think plugs would work, so I cut up a foam air filter, wrapped it in plastic wrap (from my sandwich) and crammed that into the gash. The foam filter was too flexible, so didn't hold and just fell out.
 
I then put the 40+ plugs in and it held for about 10 minutes and two air refills, but after that, they all just fell out and the tire was 100% flat.  
 
We were only half-way through the track (about 27 miles into it). It was a tough ride with 4 good tires, but I was out a front/left tire.. oddly, the one tire that was probably the most required due to the trail leaning that direction.
 
Suffice it to say that you CAN run a Bighorn tires flat for 12+ miles over some very hostile terrain.

Boundary Trail - the switchbacks from James King on Vimeo.

Boundary Trail, through the trees from James King on Vimeo.

On Saturday at 0900, around 200 ATV's departed the Deseret Peak sports complex. Final destination, the Nugget Casino in Wendover, Nevada.


Interesting things to note about the event. In the end, over $24,000 was raised by this group and well over 100 people participated in the ride, with several dozen additional in support (trailering drinks, port-a-potties, extra trailers, etc). Ages ranged from late teens to folks in their 70's. Average speed for both days was easily 45-105mph (depending on the vehicle driven). My average speed was 53mph along the salt flats with top speeds exceeding 64mph.


Virtually 100% of the terrain was flat open desert and the vast expanse of salt flats adjacent to the Great Salt Lake. Nothing overly challening except maintaining full throttle. Since the winds were excessive, we were able to avoid most of the clogging dust/dirt that usually accompanies 200+ machines going full throttle in the desert.


While en route, we took a break at the Knolls offroad area. After a few moments, one of the Make-a-Wish children (there were two brothers suffering from the same ailment) approached me in his wheel chair and said "you have the coolest and meanest looking machine out here, can you take me for a ride". We tossed an oversized helmet on his head and I had him start the machine. As soon as the engine fired, Noah hit the accelerator to the point of blowing the motor. Fortunately, we were still in Neutral.. that launch could have been disastrous.



On the last 40 mile stretch before reaching Wendover, we hit the salt flats. Even though some machines were easily 1/4 mile ahead, they threw so much mud/salt in the air, it coated every inch of us. We had to stop to wipe our goggles every 2 or so miles, because it was impossible to see.

Reaching Wendover, we were escorted through town by several Tooele County search and rescue vehicles. Full lights and sirens. Tourists and passers-by stopped to gaze and photograph the long procession of machines coming into town. It was quite a sight.


We then spent Saturday night donating our remaining money to the Nugget Steakhouse, slot machines and roulette tables.

Sunday morning was spent raffling off a ton of items donated by local companies, to include ATV ramps, ATV tires, medical supplies, first aid kits, fire extinguishers and the only 12V auto vacuum cleaner (which I won).

We preceeded back to Tooele on the same route, fortunately most of the previous day's rain had dried up and we didn't get nearly as salt coated on Sunday.


Total mileage was around 185 miles. Total for the past week is now over 800 miles on my Kawasaki. What an August!

On Monday, 16 August, 30+ people on ATV's and Side-by-Sides departed Marysvale for our first 90 mile leg. Destination: Torrey, Utah.



To get to Torrey, we had to cross the Paiute and Fremont trail systems and summit two mountain ranges. One of the more notable trails we encountered was the Barney Lake trail. This trail was easily the most destructive to the skid plates and undercarriage. It was on this trail that the rear skid plate on my ATV decided to give up and partially fall-off.

Took the quad out again Saturday to do some more riding in the Mercur/Ophir/Stockton area. My goal was to explore every side trail I could find.  
 
Even though I've been to this location at least a dozen times, I was surprised today when I found some trails that lead to new and interesting places.
 
The first new side trail was Above and just North of Jacob City. The trail climbed and climbed until it reached the peak of the mountain over Jacob City (north of). From there, a trail pressed North and would have dumped me into Soldier Canyon. Unfortunately, I had to turn around as a huge herd of bulls (horns and all) were blocking the trail, and I was in no mood to be gored by angry bulls (they were at 9800' elevation and seemed wild).
 

 
The next was N/E of Jacob City and in the neighborhood of N 40 24.034 W 112 14.720 . From this location, it would appear that I could drop all the way down to the far end of Ophir Canyon. Again, I had to turn around as a large herd of cows was blocking the trail and they refused to move.
 
While almost to Soldier Canyon, I ran into several members of the Northern Utah ATV Club (Gary & Co.). Thanks for stopping by, guys!
 

 
A few photos from my high elevation riding today:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are several ways to get up there. One is along Ophir Canyon (paved road) at about: N 40 23 102 W 112 14.070. Another, which makes for a great loop is around: N 40° 20.355 W 112° 17.335 and then you could also come in from Stockton around: N 40 25.300 W 112 19.255.
 
All staging locations are very easy. It's not until you deviate from the marked trails that some of the riding gets a bit more aggressive.  
 
In fact, from the Stockton location, you could drive a regular truck most of the way up before the trail narrows to just ATV width. 
 
 

After having taken our new rig out three times since May, I’m now thinking we may have bit off more than we can chew. On my first real outing, I went out alone to hold a campsite for two days while friends and family arrived. Since I was alone, I had to navigate the RW395 by myself. Unfortunately, a tree jumped out and grabbed the entire right side of the rig, punching a small hole in our front door. After getting back home and backing this beast into our driveway (RV spot), I pulled forward just a little and somehow the rig grabbed our gate and got wedged. The only solution was to cut that entire side of the gate down.

Camp (Wickiup area, San Rafael Swell)

Ouch!

Early last Sunday, Bill and I arrived at our designated staging area near Israel Canyon, on the outskirts of Saratoga Springs. It was 0930 and still quite cold outside. I'm going to guess it was still in the high 30's upon arrival.

We unloaded our trucks and began the journey up the mountain through Israel Canyon. Many hunters were scattered along the trail. Some just starting their day, others gutting a deer.

Neither of us realized just how rocky and rough this trail was going to be. Getting to the top of Lake Mountain proved to be its own painful adventure.

Upon arrival at the top, we were greeted with an outstanding view of all Utah County.